Bill Frist:YouPeopleAreCrazy: Bill Frist: Yeah... New Yorkers are not subsidized. We pay far more in taxes, and actually subsidize the shiatty rural parts.

The shiatty rural parts that actually feed you. And build your furniture. And all the other shinies that you desire.

The delusional nature of rural america is kind of staggaring. You really think that the big cities have huge economies caue they don't produce things people want to buy?

Anyway, California produces, by far, the most food of any state. Podunk north dakota, or wharever, isn't really feeding america.

Where are the factories? Big cities market the shiat people want to buy (sales, marketing, web design, etc), lend each other huge sums of money so they can afford the shiat people want to buy (finance, investing, banking), harass each other when they can't afford the shiat they just bought (collections, lawyers, accounting) and then demand bailouts when shiat blows up. A hipster grows a farking tomato on his fire escape and photoblogs about it until it ripens. The rest of America feeds the farking world, builds heavy machinery, trucks and the like and its deemed unimportant flyover country. Guess what idiots, you can live without a bank or the latest crap movie from la....live a week without food and tell me how that goes. That better be one big tomato. And I am from NYC

As a ruuural NYer (since moved to NYC), I can tell you that they produce barely enough to stay alive, at least up where I'm from. They are not making things that I as a city dweller want or lust for. They make hair dressers and poorly repaired, late 80's blown out Camaros.It's all service economy, and some dairy. Honestly, if the hometown was part of southern Ontario, we'd all be better off.

YouPeopleAreCrazy:The shiatty rural parts that actually feed you. And build your furniture. And all the other shinies that you desire.

That's a bizarre claim, considering that manufacturing is largely tied to urban areas (small cities and up, you can't much of a factory without infrastructure and a workforce), and the only thing keeping much of America's rural agriculture afloat is massive government subsidy paid for by those in higher tax brackets.

I mean, really. I have nothing against small towns or rural America in general, I'm from there, but let's not be ridiculous. America has been urbanizing for decades and rural counties, by and large, are dying, both literally (health outcomes) and figuratively (population loss). The infrastructure that makes it recognizably First World in modern rural America isn't paid for by the infinitesimal tax revenue on some dude's $100,000 house and $35,000 wages, it's paid for by what goes on in the cities.

Quality of life depends on what kind of life you want to have. Anyone with a modicum of street smarts could survive NYC in the 70s-90s, even Wash Heights, but you needed an advanced finance degree not to get raped by Wall Street in the aughts. And dont tell me Bloombergs 300 parking fines and soda laws are any less of a mugging than some junkie rolling you for a 20 spot...i find it a lot scarier when the theivery is institutionalized and enforced by police.

as far as my taste for Warhol...no it isnt trolling..like it or not, his art was a statement of what America was to become...rampant consumerism. It was a testimony to how mass consumption equalizes (and homogenizes) the rich and the poor. To me, it fortold 1000s of flop haired, scarf wearing, Chbosky reading nitwits unique-ing themselves into a mainstream porridge of blah, and 1000s of lil' lil waynes gangstarring themselves to ridiculousness.

Take me back to the time where I could respect Bukowski followers because they experienced his same squallor, and fear Tupac fans because they understood what it was like to live every day im danger.

dittybopper:Bill Frist: In a major city, cars are limiting, not freeing.

Only if you rarely leave the immediate metro area. If the horizon of your World doesn't exceed 10 or 15 miles from Central Park, then yeah, a car is probably more trouble than it's worth.

In my case, if I need to use a car or if I want to travel, I can just rent one. No need to have one of my own. Insurance in the city costs a lot. parking prices are astronomical, parking on the streets means having to spend many hours every other day looking for a parking spot on the good side of the street, and there is always the problem of vandalism or theft. Easier and cheaper to rent one when I need one.

Job Creator:I'm tired of a lot of these posts (not yours) saying "I pay $200/month for 60 acres and a 27-bedroom house hurrrrrr" because they miss the point. NYC fits me, where other people live fits them. I could no longer live in South Georgia than many people can live in NYC. And that's fine.

Well then, what are you complaining about? What, just because you are happy where you are, nobody else can discuss their cost of living opinions? Just because you might react emotionally to hearing about other people's cost of living opinions? Nobody made you come into a cost of living thread. Stay out if you don't want to see posts about it.

dittybopper:Bill Frist: In a major city, cars are limiting, not freeing.

Only if you rarely leave the immediate metro area. If the horizon of your World doesn't exceed 10 or 15 miles from Central Park, then yeah, a car is probably more trouble than it's worth.

This has been hammered to death in this thread, but it's really more like "hundreds of miles from Central Park". The LIRR, etc., connect readily to the entire metro area (the hundred or so miles up Long Island, for example, and the rest of the region on other services), and beyond that, Boston, Washington, Philadelphia, and most of those regions are all readily linked up, as well. You have more or less complete freedom of movement within the northeast, and the gaps are mostly places people don't really have all that much reason to go for either business or pleasure. It's rare enough of a problem that taking a cab to connect up the remaining leg in those situations would still be far cheaper and less of a hassle than car ownership. Anything beyond that, most people, regardless of whether they own a car, would fly anyway.

This is really a ridiculous and somewhat desperate, pointless argument. There's no serious debate over the convenience and cost. The idea that car ownership is a big deal is really about image, as people in some parts of this country associate it with independence. They want to *see themselves* as free to go wherever they want, whenever they want, even though they rarely do. People in other parts just don't see it that way, and still go where they want to go.

The whole "oh, your world must just have small horizons" retort is just ludicrous. Beyond their own regions, it's my observation that people in NY do tend to travel quite a bit more widely and more often than people I deal with smaller towns, I'm assuming because of the higher incomes and far better access to cheaper, faster transportation than some dude relying on EAS flights to a second tier hub.

Yanks_RSJ:dittybopper: Bill Frist: In a major city, cars are limiting, not freeing.

Only if you rarely leave the immediate metro area. If the horizon of your World doesn't exceed 10 or 15 miles from Central Park, then yeah, a car is probably more trouble than it's worth.

Cars don't bring most people to the "horizons" of their world, they usually just bring them to and from the supermarket.

Most of the time, that's reasonably true.

Having said that, ever go on a car trip? It allows an amount of spontaneity not available to the various forms of mass transit.

Also, what many people don't recognize is that outside of relatively densely populated urban areas, mass transit has to be heavily subsidized because it simply isn't economically viable for relatively low-density areas and that includes most suburbs.

Willas Tyrell:FarkFarkFarkGOOSE: NYC is like the hipster "culture" infecting it for the past decade. It is rich, lazy and obvious. The same bland almart and piggly wiggly mentality under the nom de plum of cheap jacks and trader joes. Now that even therougher edges like Harlem, DUMBO, wberg, etc have been smoothed out by spoiled trusties, it lost the truth that real writers, artists and musicians lent it in prior decades. I'm sorry but blogging about your 15 dollar three pork and cilantro sandwich is no less banal than a nascar fan praising fried twinkies. Coast to coast, the same vapid stupidity found in flyover towns is found in D. Trump'ed first tier "work-shop-play" cities, just in a different flavor. The uniqueness of a singular Warhol has been supplanted by a proliferation ofnumerous assholes who permeate the city like an oil slick, covering the mundane with the absurd. Screw mickey mouse, skinny jeans and non functional horn rimmed glasses. Give me back the walked through hookeIrs, CBGBs and The Roxy. Buying organics and growing a few tomatos while you sop up bukowski and the lumineers doesntmake u edgy or relevant. From this nyc native- Fark you hipster from Harrisburg, you came, you saw, you ruined.

This NYC native has noted that you've already pointed out in this thread how much you wish NYC looked the way it did before Guliani was mayor, CBGB's was closed (your punk-rock bona fides, got it) and all these people who came to the city after you did showed up. I for one do not miss the crime of the 80's; it wasn't until I left NYC for college that I realized that everyone didn't have multiple stories about guns being pointed at them and their friends being shot at.

I also wonder if you're actually a native if you define the "edges" of the city as Harlem, DUMBO and Williamburg, three areas either in Manhattan or bordered by the East River. If you really feel the need for rough-hewn authenticity may I suggest a visit to Jamaica, Queens, Far Rock or East New York, Brooklyn.

And I know a ...

"Edges" figuratively. I meant when I was growing up those were barely habitable, yet struggling artists and writers could still get a roof there and make it in time to perform downtown. I was born in Coney Island, raised in Canarsie, and lived in the ev until the sight of another trust funder wannabe was unbearable. That was last year. I've eaten 25 cent greys papayas hotdogs at 4am with the homeless and as the homeless. I understand why some people who grew up in the so called dangerous NYC of the past can appreciate the cleaner, safer streets of today, since most of them grew up, grew wealthier, and now have children and something to lose. So they moved to bronx, queens, and ugh staten island landfills and biatch about bloomberg from afar, but appreciate the "quality of life" they have now. That quality of life is yours as long as you play by the rules, go to work on Monday, pay your farking taxes, and keep your mouth shut. And still, park your car (and you know you b&t farkers need them esp you staten island) under one of the parking/logic question signs in manhattan (sally can park here every alternating day that has a vowel as its second letter, provided it is between a time that ends on an odd number and can be divided by three and the car is a white sedan) and BOOM your QoL just went down 300 dollar points.

But I never had children, and Ive forgotton what the rules are its been that long since Ive played by them. And Ive walked through eny and wh after dark (im white) and havent been mugged (granted I was looking to score). But I did watch my parents die next to broke thanks to Wall Street. At least I knew who the criminals were 20 years ago.

WeenerGord:Job Creator: I'm tired of a lot of these posts (not yours) saying "I pay $200/month for 60 acres and a 27-bedroom house hurrrrrr" because they miss the point. NYC fits me, where other people live fits them. I could no longer live in South Georgia than many people can live in NYC. And that's fine.

Well then, what are you complaining about? What, just because you are happy where you are, nobody else can discuss their cost of living opinions? Just because you might react emotionally to hearing about other people's cost of living opinions? Nobody made you come into a cost of living thread. Stay out if you don't want to see posts about it.

Yanks_RSJ:Much like this one. There are a million things to do between my office and my apartment, all at a moment's notice.

Supposing you take the "ten to fifteen mile horizon" claim at face value, one thing a lot of people don't understand is that cities like New York are literally so big that you're literally never going to run out of new things. You could eat at a restaurant every single night or go see a show or an exhibit every single weekend, and there's always going to be more than you will ever see or try.

A couple miles of Manhattan really does contain more to do and see and more different kinds of people (as well as different actual individual people) to meet than fifty or a hundred miles or most of this country. That's without even addressing the fact that the argument is nonsensical to begin with, since it's actually very easy to get to other parts of the region and the country, not to mention the world.

That's not to say it's for everybody or objectively better, just that this whole line of argument is silly. Some people seem to be feeling a touch insecure and are picking a hill to die on that ends up making them look naive. "Oh, you just must not be interested in having experiences." *snort*

freewill:YouPeopleAreCrazy: The shiatty rural parts that actually feed you. And build your furniture. And all the other shinies that you desire.

That's a bizarre claim, considering that manufacturing is largely tied to urban areas (small cities and up, you can't much of a factory without infrastructure and a workforce), and the only thing keeping much of America's rural agriculture afloat is massive government subsidy paid for by those in higher tax brackets.

I mean, really. I have nothing against small towns or rural America in general, I'm from there, but let's not be ridiculous. America has been urbanizing for decades and rural counties, by and large, are dying, both literally (health outcomes) and figuratively (population loss). The infrastructure that makes it recognizably First World in modern rural America isn't paid for by the infinitesimal tax revenue on some dude's $100,000 house and $35,000 wages, it's paid for by what goes on in the cities.

==================

And it's been that way since the end of WWI. In the 1920's, the US had lower rates of rural electrification than the Europeans. American farms without connection to the public electric grid were common well into the 40's. What most "free" red state Tea-Party types don't know, or won't admit, is just how much they owe to the federal government and the taxpayers of the Northeast and Midwest. Without massive government funded infrastructure projects, large areas of the rural south and west would have no running water, electricity, phone service to say nothing of paved roads. Of coarse these people will never stop sneering at "the socialists back east".

The normal people of this country would all be a lot better off if Murica was broken up. The Northeast could join the EU. The Midwest could go to Canada. West coast can be split between the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans. The rest can become the New Confederacy. It would be the paradise real Muricans have been dreaming about. The theory of evolution would be outlawed. Debtors prisons, indentured servitude and slavery would be brought back, Dentists offices would be burned. They could open each session of congress by speaking in tongues. Cousin marriage and guns for everybody. It would be Murica restored.........restored to 1814.

freewill:That's not to say it's for everybody or objectively better, just that this whole line of argument is silly. Some people seem to be feeling a touch insecure and are picking a hill to die on that ends up making them look naive. "Oh, you just must not be interested in having experiences." *snort*

Yeah, as the rational folks in the thread have indicated, there is no right answer. I'm not a "get in the car and drive until I find something" type of guy. I'm sure some people are.

Still, I had to take issue with the idea that our "horizons" are incredibly limited because we can't do that. It's less than an hour by train to any of three international airports, so I think we're okay.

FarkFarkFarkGOOSE:and fear Tupac fans because they understood what it was like to live every day im danger.

Hahaha! You do realize he grew up in a very middle class lifestyle and went to a professional children's school where he study poetry and ballet right? His "tough guy' image was 99% fake although it ended up getting him killed.

FarkFarkFarkGOOSE:I was born in Coney Island, raised in Canarsie, and lived in the ev until the sight of another trust funder wannabe was unbearable. That was last year. I've eaten 25 cent greys papayas hotdogs at 4am with the homeless and as the homeless. I understand why some people who grew up in the so called dangerous NYC of the past can appreciate the cleaner, safer streets of today, since most of them grew up, grew wealthier, and now have children and something to lose. So they moved to bronx, queens, and ugh staten island landfills and biatch about bloomberg from afar, but appreciate the "quality of life" they have now. That quality of life is yours as long as you play by the rules, go to work on Monday, pay your farking taxes, and keep your mouth shut. And still, park your car (and you know you b&t farkers need them esp you staten island) under one of the parking/logic question signs in manhattan (sally can park here every alternating day that has a vowel as its second letter, provided it is between a time that ends on an odd number and can be divided by three and the car is a white sedan) and BOOM your QoL just went down 300 dollar points.

Chicago is a pretty shiatty city. I get wanting to live in rural America (I was raised there myself), cool small towns, or even cool non-NYC big cities.

But Chicago is ultimate "I couldn't make it anywhere else" bummer city.

So much this. I have relatives who live there. A brother who did college and grad school there. I grew up 2 hours away and we did plenty of holiday and weekend trips there. And IMHO, Chicago has no charm. It's like an overgrown Midwest city. Yeah, okay I never lived there, but it seems like it has all the disadvantages of a big city and none of the good stuff.

Except for the art museums and Science and Industry. Chicago has decent museums.

Big_fat_liar An odd thing about people from LA who move out of state is you never forget where they are from, because they mention it on pretty much a daily basis. Makes you wonder why they moved....

Well, that's true of all big city folks when they move out of their jurisdiction. Certainly we have lots of New Yorkers here who can't stop complaining about LA and the fact they have to drive to get from A to B and our mass transit ain't so good. Yeah, we get it. NYC is a walking town. Thanks for telling us what we already know.

lollipop- not sure where you get your info but tupac grew up in east harlem until he was about 14. And so what he went to a school for the arts in Baltimore? He grew up poor and in the ghetto..doesnt make him carlton. You have your info wrong. Nice bunny tho.

SirEattonHogg:Big_fat_liarAn odd thing about people from LA who move out of state is you never forget where they are from, because they mention it on pretty much a daily basis. Makes you wonder why they moved....

Well, that's true of all big city folks when they move out of their jurisdiction. Certainly we have lots of New Yorkers here who can't stop complaining about LA and the fact they have to drive to get from A to B and our mass transit ain't so good. Yeah, we get it. NYC is a walking town. Thanks for telling us what we already know.

What is it with girls and LA? My sister in law is dying to go back out to visit, even though she will be travelling broke. She says it is so much fun out there. She's in Atlanta now - maybe that has something to do with it...

I lived out their (San Jose anyway) for a short time as a kid and have visited as an adult....just don't see it. A city is a city is a city. I'm not a big Dead fan but "Your typical city involved in a typical daydream ...."

FarkFarkFarkGOOSE:lollipop- not sure where you get your info but tupac grew up in east harlem until he was about 14. And so what he went to a school for the arts in Baltimore? He grew up poor and in the ghetto..doesnt make him carlton. You have your info wrong. Nice bunny tho.

Justice Sotomayor also grew up in East Harlem in a lower income minority family. Doesn't make her a "thug" or "living the hard life". Doesn't make her "carlton" either. He lived a relatively good life and was a good student and never got into trouble. He was also a talented rapper who realized that being a "thug" could help his career.

If they want to bring down the rent, they need to completely eliminate rent control, and cut property taxes and fees for building permits. After that just stand back and watch how many new apartment buildings go up.

lollipop- you said he grew up middle class and the thug image was fake, which was untrue. Now youre saying his thug image was embellished, which is probably true. Human nature. I am sure the Jersey Shore characters became more jersey shorey after and to facilitate their fame.

freewill:CheapEngineer: Many Chicagoans have a serious superiority complex over anyone who doesn't care to live in Chicago, and an inferiority complex with NewYorkers. As a former downstate Illinois resident, I want them to form their own goddamn state and leave us the F alone already.

Where, exactly?

Williamson County, here. Far enough down that it stops being "downstate" and turns into "southern".

For the Chicago love up-thread I'll just comment that while it's a great city it also boasts horrific weather. Brutally hot and insanely cold. The spring and fall are nice but fark that noise. I lost my midwestern grit long ago.

freewill:Yanks_RSJ: Much like this one. There are a million things to do between my office and my apartment, all at a moment's notice.

Supposing you take the "ten to fifteen mile horizon" claim at face value, one thing a lot of people don't understand is that cities like New York are literally so big that you're literally never going to run out of new things. You could eat at a restaurant every single night or go see a show or an exhibit every single weekend, and there's always going to be more than you will ever see or try.

A couple miles of Manhattan really does contain more to do and see and more different kinds of people (as well as different actual individual people) to meet than fifty or a hundred miles or most of this country. That's without even addressing the fact that the argument is nonsensical to begin with, since it's actually very easy to get to other parts of the region and the country, not to mention the world.

That's not to say it's for everybody or objectively better, just that this whole line of argument is silly. Some people seem to be feeling a touch insecure and are picking a hill to die on that ends up making them look naive. "Oh, you just must not be interested in having experiences." *snort*

Yep.

I mean, really, the fact that the anti-NYC people here are basing their entire argument on this goofy idea that if you don't own a car you can't get anywhere or experience the world (even though MOST of the world requires a plane to get to...) pretty much sums up how little they have.

I mean, really, the fact that the anti-NYC people here are basing their entire argument on this goofy idea that if you don't own a car you can't get anywhere or experience the world (even though MOST of the world requires a plane to get to...) pretty much sums up how little they have.

Yeah, but we have no idea what it's like to experience the "Waffle House/Dennys" conundrum on the open road. Windows down, radio blarin', just trying to find a place to pull over and piss and eat a meal served in a dirty ashtray.

i'm really glad i live in new orleans. y'all people are weirdos. either like where you live or don't live there. or do live there and don't complain. or do complain, but at least be funny. the biggest complainers here are not being very funny. what's the point in complaining if there's no joke? it serves no purpose, just makes you look crazy.

but, i've noticed something about new orleans. and i've not lived here long. whenever someone starts blabbing about gentrification and hipsters and yuppies and bla bla bla, it's a pretty easy tell that you've lived here a shorter time than me. i would have assumed other cities, cities that people so ardently identify with (like new york) it;s all the same. those who yell the loudest about "you don't know what it was like!" are probably from ohio... or some other state like that, which i hate to make fun of because i've never been there and I'm sure it's lovely... but guests to my town from ohio tend not to be a little predictable. oh well, better than people from alabama... they'll put their balls on your head. and not because you want them to.

travoltron:freewill: travoltron: So you've been to my hometown. Good for you for making it out alive. It's the land where dreams go to die.

I live in Binghamton, dude.

To some of these unfortunates, I may as well live in opulence in Hong Kong because my power stays on after a strong wind.

I'm from Potsdam, and the wife is from Owego. Provided you aren't super creepy and a complete waste of space, if you're here in the city, I have four taps set up in my dining room, come get a beer. It's like a tour in 'nam in rural NYS. (though Binghamton is a huge city by comparison to Potsdam)

In all seriousness, I'm down with this or some variation on it next time the g/f and I are in the city. We always appreciate decent people to meet up with anywhere we go. Email in profile.

Big_fat_liarWhat is it with girls and LA? My sister in law is dying to go back out to visit, even though she will be travelling broke. She says it is so much fun out there. She's in Atlanta now - maybe that has something to do with it...

I lived out their (San Jose anyway) for a short time as a kid and have visited as an adult....just don't see it. A city is a city is a city. I'm not a big Dead fan but "Your typical city involved in a typical daydream ...."

You may not be a big city fan if your experience of a big city was based on San Jose. Not to rip on your childhood experiences, but San Jose is really an overgrown suburb with a rather small and sleepy downtown. It's much bigger in population and land than SF, but the comparison is night and day (much less comparing it with NYC or LA which would be laughable). Unless I had a family, I wouldn't have any interest in moving to SJ.

SirEattonHogg:Big_fat_liarAn odd thing about people from LA who move out of state is you never forget where they are from, because they mention it on pretty much a daily basis. Makes you wonder why they moved....

Well, that's true of all big city folks when they move out of their jurisdiction. Certainly we have lots of New Yorkers here who can't stop complaining about LA and the fact they have to drive to get from A to B and our mass transit ain't so good. Yeah, we get it. NYC is a walking town. Thanks for telling us what we already know.

Hey, a couple of weeks from now I'm gonna fly into San Diego, spend a night at a hotel, stash a rental car (current plan) and then head out that Monday away from shore. They'll drop me off some miles south of LA early Friday evening. What's the cheapest or best or whatever way to get back to San Diego, public transit or otherwise?

The gist I got from that article is, "New York really is affordable... provided you earn at least a six-figure salary." It would be nice (and actually useful) if articles like this focused on cost of living for the middle class and not just the extreme ends.

FTA:Truthfully, things seem more expensive here because there's just way more high-end stuff around to tempt us, and we don't do the mental accounting to adjust sticker prices for the higher quality. We see a sensible shoe with a $480 price tag or an oatmeal cookie for $4 and sometimes don't register that these are luxury versions of normal items available from Payless or Entenmann's. The problem, in part, is that people tend to anchor their own expectations for what they should buy based on what their neighbors are buying, not what some abstract, median American buys.

--

So in this author's estimation the "problem" is that New Yorkers are just better than average (i.e. everyone else).Move along folks, nothing new to see here.

Ratometer:Hey, a couple of weeks from now I'm gonna fly into San Diego, spend a night at a hotel, stash a rental car (current plan) and then head out that Monday away from shore. They'll drop me off some miles south of LA early Friday evening. What's the cheapest or best or whatever way to get back to San Diego, public transit or otherwise?

Actually I would figure rental car is probably the cheapest and most convenient. LA/Orange County has metrolink and SD has the Coaster(?) but I don't think those two systems connect in any way. The only transit link other than a bus is a daily Amtrak link.

I drive between SD and LA on fairly regular basis and its just a 2.5 to 3.5 hour drive (depending on where you are coming from in LA and the traffic conditions - which admittedly can be very hairy).

RatOmeter:SirEattonHogg: Big_fat_liarAn odd thing about people from LA who move out of state is you never forget where they are from, because they mention it on pretty much a daily basis. Makes you wonder why they moved....

Well, that's true of all big city folks when they move out of their jurisdiction. Certainly we have lots of New Yorkers here who can't stop complaining about LA and the fact they have to drive to get from A to B and our mass transit ain't so good. Yeah, we get it. NYC is a walking town. Thanks for telling us what we already know.

Hey, a couple of weeks from now I'm gonna fly into San Diego, spend a night at a hotel, stash a rental car (current plan) and then head out that Monday away from shore. They'll drop me off some miles south of LA early Friday evening. What's the cheapest or best or whatever way to get back to San Diego, public transit or otherwise?

You take metrolink to union station and take pacific surfliner to old town sd..from old town you can get practically anywhere in sd but be aware the buses often end at midnight. cabs are usually at old town but are expensive.

FarkFarkFarkGOOSE:RatOmeter: SirEattonHogg: Big_fat_liarAn odd thing about people from LA who move out of state is you never forget where they are from, because they mention it on pretty much a daily basis. Makes you wonder why they moved....

Well, that's true of all big city folks when they move out of their jurisdiction. Certainly we have lots of New Yorkers here who can't stop complaining about LA and the fact they have to drive to get from A to B and our mass transit ain't so good. Yeah, we get it. NYC is a walking town. Thanks for telling us what we already know.

Hey, a couple of weeks from now I'm gonna fly into San Diego, spend a night at a hotel, stash a rental car (current plan) and then head out that Monday away from shore. They'll drop me off some miles south of LA early Friday evening. What's the cheapest or best or whatever way to get back to San Diego, public transit or otherwise?

You take metrolink to union station and take pacific surfliner to old town sd..from old town you can get practically anywhere in sd but be aware the buses often end at midnight. cabs are usually at old town but are expensive.

Thanks for the input, guys.

I think I've already worked out the logical plan, now that I've gained more info about my actual travel details. I expect that I'll fly into SD and out of LA....

But dang! I love trains. Not "subways" really, but trains that cut through the countryside and backyard ghettos and random shiat. Once took a train from Luizhou to Guilin, loved it. Took a train from Swindon to Cardiff. Sweet. I'd like to take the train(s) from LA to SD, but honestly, I'm gonna be tired and ready to head home, so if I can get the into SD and out of LA flights, I'll do it.

RatOmeter:FarkFarkFarkGOOSE: RatOmeter: SirEattonHogg: Big_fat_liarAn odd thing about people from LA who move out of state is you never forget where they are from, because they mention it on pretty much a daily basis. Makes you wonder why they moved....

Well, that's true of all big city folks when they move out of their jurisdiction. Certainly we have lots of New Yorkers here who can't stop complaining about LA and the fact they have to drive to get from A to B and our mass transit ain't so good. Yeah, we get it. NYC is a walking town. Thanks for telling us what we already know.

Hey, a couple of weeks from now I'm gonna fly into San Diego, spend a night at a hotel, stash a rental car (current plan) and then head out that Monday away from shore. They'll drop me off some miles south of LA early Friday evening. What's the cheapest or best or whatever way to get back to San Diego, public transit or otherwise?

You take metrolink to union station and take pacific surfliner to old town sd..from old town you can get practically anywhere in sd but be aware the buses often end at midnight. cabs are usually at old town but are expensive.

Thanks for the input, guys.

I think I've already worked out the logical plan, now that I've gained more info about my actual travel details. I expect that I'll fly into SD and out of LA....

But dang! I love trains. Not "subways" really, but trains that cut through the countryside and backyard ghettos and random shiat. Once took a train from Luizhou to Guilin, loved it. Took a train from Swindon to Cardiff. Sweet. I'd like to take the train(s) from LA to SD, but honestly, I'm gonna be tired and ready to head home, so if I can get the into SD and out of LA flights, I'll do it.

not sure if you will come back to check this- but ive been all over the usa by train, and the surfliner is the one to take..nothing like it...right on the coast at sunset over the pacific blue...it is a trip to take.

not sure if you will come back to check this- but ive been all over the usa by train, and the surfliner is the one to take..nothing like it...right on the coast at sunset over the pacific blue...it is a trip to take.

It sounds like it might be worth doing. A hotel in Old Town is where I'll be staying initially anyway. Maybe instead of stashing a rental car where I normally do, I can just leave my extra stuff at the hotel front desk. I've done that in Korea in the past - not sure about US hotel policies. Or maybe just don't bring any "extra stuff".

My first train ride was when I was a kid, about 12 or 13. A friend of mine and I hopped into an open boxcar on a freight train at a rural grain elevator. Fortunately for us, it stopped in town about 7 miles away and we hopped out and walked back home along the tracks.